Now that I've had a chance to sit down and read this properly, something about Belial has come into focus: he is
patient in a way that few people manage to be. Out of all the cast we've seen so far, he's the only one who is grown-up enough to believably be able to maintain a relationship, romantic or otherwise.
@ZerbanDaGreat, if you're trying to show that he's been around the block a few times, then you've succeeded beautifully.
He pauses mid-movement, noticing you notice out of the corner of his eye. "Something up?" he asks, his tone edged in something you can't quite place.
"Nothing, just... heh. You look great today."
"Oh." For a moment, just a moment, he's disarmed. He lowers his arms and looks down at himself, no more than a glance. One half-curled hand hovering by his chin as a smile slowly spreads across his face. "Thank you."
Aww, for all his virtues and experience, Belial is still nervous about the morning after. I suspect he's used to being a convenient plaything for a night, only to be discarded.
I wonder how long it'll take him to realize that he's now one of Eldingar's treasures?
And now, we examine the voting options!
[ ] Just furniture. Dirt-cheap to the point to where you doubt you'll even notice the loss, and the bare minimum to appease the men living in your spire. Somethingsomething it's like camping or whatever Abzu said.
This one isn't going to go over well. No.
[ ] An outbuilding. Just throw up a nice, roomy apartment-style thing behind the spire where your current lair-mates can have all the space and privacy they need with room to expand for the other five. Pocket-change, really.
It's fairly exposed, particularly since Eldingar's home gets some rather energetic weather, which makes it far too temporary. Also no.
[X] Spire excavation. If sprucing the place up is part of Mother's stipulations, you might as well kill two birds with one accurately-thrown chisel. Knock through that front door she's always nagging you about and get tunnelling, hollow out some rooms and nooks for everyone. This is where the cost gets noticeable.
This one is tempting, in no small part because it will meaningfully reshape the environment in which Eldingar spends his time. Given how much of a mess he is psychologically, that's a good thing. It won't come cheap, though.
[ ] Wizardly bullshit. After that encounter with Abzu's living arrangements and the power they displayed, you're starting to get some ideas. If you can contract out some of that space-folding bullshit then everyone could have exactly what they want without infringing on your precious lair-space. Probably so expensive you will have an actual anxiety attack if you don't immediately replenish your hoard somehow.
This one is too much, too soon. Warping reality isn't done casually, and Eldingar really should put some serious time and effort into investigating his options
before he burns what's left of his physical horde. Even worse, it lets him shove everyone out of his sight and pretend they don't exist. That's an easy way to backslide. No.
